Enbridge Inc. announced yesterday that it has come to an agreement with shippers to allocate storage space along the Mainline, the largest oil pipeline network in North America, beginning June 1. The company has offered close to 900,000 barrels of storage across an eight-month period.

“Given the impacts of the pandemic and the collapse in crude oil prices, demand for incremental crude petroleum storage throughout North America and even more urgently in Western Canada is high,” said Enbridge in a report filed with the Canadian Energy Regulator.

The global market has been struggling to find adequate storage capacity due to a crude glut that has come about following a drop in demand for oil and falling prices amid COVID-19.

Enbridge is also in the process of consulting with provincial and federal governments about developments to the company’s storage tank program, according to Tracie Kenyon, a spokeperson for the energy company.

Irving Oil Ltd. has received approval from the federal government to start building a new route that will connect the oilsands to the refinery located on the country’s East Coast through the Panama Canal.

Back in mid-April, Irving made a request through the Canadian Transportation Agency asking for the ability to use this route “on an urgent basis.”

This project is expected to spark some push back from provincial governments and environmental groups.

French energy company Total SA has newly committed to reducing the majority of its carbon emissions by 2050 by making bigger investments in clean energy. This decision was influenced by a pressure on major oil companies to move towards more environmentally friendly alternatives as falling demand for the crude and a drop in global oil prices has left many struggling.

Total’s goals include wanting to see a 60-per-cent drop in the average carbon intensity of the products its customers use by 2050 and intends for its global operations to have net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, reported Bloomberg.

In other news, a mine in western Liberia has collapsed, the number of causalities remain unknown, according to Reuters.